Scott Litroff - Global Saxophone - A Journey in Music (2021)

American saxophonist Scott Litroff (b.1985) is recognized for expertise and versatility as a performer and educator in both classical and jazz disciplines. Litroff's solo debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall has been followed by performances at venues including Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, the DiMenna Center, Yoshi's Club San Francisco, Seattle's Jazz Alley, and internationally at venues in Mexico, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Japan. He has performed alongside some of the world's finest musicians, including Koh Mr. Saxman, Ray Anderson, Bakithi Kumalo, Steve Salerno, Nellie McKay and Martin Loyato, and has performed under notable conductors, including George Manahan, Rosen Milanov, Joseph Colaneri, Hana Kim, and David Hayes. Litroff is sought internationally as a guest artist and clinician, having appeared in the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Japan and China. Enjoying collaborations with composers, Litroff encourages the creation of new compositions for saxophone that take advantage of the instrument’s lyrical, tonal and stylistic flexibility. Through commissions and other works composed for him, Litroff has premiered more than 15 compositions from leading composers, including David Loeb, Sidney Boquiren, David Campbell, Karl Hinze, Dawn Chambers and the composers featured on these recordings. Litroff has received numerous teaching, research and pedagogical awards and honors. He is the recipient of the prestigious Samuel Baron Prize, Ackerman Prize in Music and Bob Meyers Award for Excellence in Jazz. He has won several concerto competitions, including First Prize in the Stony Brook University Graduate Concerto Competition and Mannes Concerto Competition, and won the Stony Brook Undergraduate Concerto Competition, notably the first saxophonist to have done so. He is also a recipient of the PSC:CUNY Research Award and the Adelphi University Adjunct Faculty Development Grant. An official artist endorser for P. Mauriat Saxophones, Chedeville Mouthpieces, Legere Reeds and Silverstein Ligatures, he uses this equipment exclusively in all his professional engagements. Litroff earned a Bachelor's and Doctorate degree in music from Stony Brook University, and a Master's degree in saxophone performance from the Mannes School of Music. His teachers included Allen Won, Christopher Creviston and Ray Anderson. Litroff is currently Assistant Professor of Jazz at Queensborough Community College and Adjunct Professor of Music at Adelphi University.

French pianist Matthieu Cognet is an active soloist and sought after chamber player who performs extensively in the United States and Europe. He has appeared in major venues and festivals, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Cultural Institute of Chicago, Rushmore Music Festival, Festival Memphis in May, Saint Georges Music Festival in Guadeloupe, and the Prades and Pianissimes Festivals in France. Cognet is a laureate of the Concours Musical de France, the Bloomington Travel Grant, Stony Brook Concerto, New York Forte and Entraide Française Competitions. He has been a soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Stony Brook University Orchestra, Indiana University Orchestra and Paris Sorbonne Orchestra. Cognet’s recital and chamber music performances have been broadcast on Radio France, Italian RAI and WFMT in Chicago. He is also Artistic Director of the French:American Piano Society. As a recording artist, he has released Debut Recital and Mit Humor on the Odradek label. Cognet released in 2015 a fine solo piano transcription of Ravel’s La Valse (Lauren Keiser/Hal Leonard Publications). Currently a staff pianist at The Juilliard School, Cognet received degrees from the Paris and Brussels Conservatories, Sorbonne University and Indiana University. He graduated with a Doctoral degree from Stony Brook University under the guidance of Gilbert Kalish.